Plateau's experiment

Plateau's experiment investigated how the sensation of a sustained touch persists over time. He applied a constant stimulus to the skin and observed that, initially, people felt a strong sensation, but this gradually diminished even though the stimulus remained. Eventually, the feeling stabilized at a lower intensity. This demonstrated that our sensory receptors adapt quickly to continuous stimulation, reducing our perception over time. The experiment helped scientists understand processes like sensory adaptation, showing that our nervous system filters out constant stimuli to focus on changes or new sensations.